Survey shows majority of local social enterprise leaders want to REMAIN in the EU

A survey of members carried out by PSEN has found that 92% of those running social enterprises in the city will vote for Britain to STAY in the European Union (EU). 8% said they didn’t know how they would vote.

Of the social enterprises surveyed, 73% said they would be worried if Britain left the EU because of social and environmental regulations; 62% said they would be worried about access to European markets; and 62% also said that they would be worried about reduced access to EU funding. 8% said they were not worried about a departure.

Over two thirds (68%) said there were no advantages for their social enterprises of Britain leaving the EU. However, some expressed positives about a departure: 12% mentioned the benefit of repatriation of EU money; 8% said less social and environmental regulations (red tape) would be beneficial, and 8% said they would have more direct access to global markets.

The survey also found that:

• 19% of Plymouth-based social enterprises export to the EU and 19% export to other countries outside the EU.
• 39% of social enterprise leaders said that the future of their social enterprise would be at risk if Britain left the EU, compared with 27% who said it would not
• 32% of social enterprises employ non-UK EU nationals

Gareth Hart, Chair of PSEN, said: “We were interested to find out what those running social enterprises in Plymouth thought of Britain’s membership of the European Union and how they would vote in the upcoming referendum.

This research shows that the majority of people surveyed would prefer to stay in the EU and that they feel that their social enterprises would be at risk if we left.”

About garethhart

Gareth is the Director of Iridescent Ideas CIC. Our vision is to provide great business services that enable social enterprises, charities, and other organizations to achieve their aims and objectives. We want to make your social business shine!